Great poise, big dynamics, gorgeous sound

None

Listening to this amplifier has been a real treat. The sound is so sweet, so fluid, so integrated and balanced... It's like drinking a carmel macchiato after years of black coffee. It's a breath of fresh air and a ray of sunshine. I love this amplifier. I feel like it has brought me a step closer to the truth in the recording, peeled a layer of pretense from my system, revealing an honesty I didn't know was there. Music is just FUN to listen to again, it bounces, it jams, it rocks - it's like buttah! If I could rate this a 6, I would, but I'll stick to 5's across the board.

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Bryston 2B-LP

everything you can think of

doesnt know the meaning of the word

an excellent amplifier that provides warmth of a tube.i have cnnected this to tannoy erris 2 speakers.since both amp and spks have excellent mid range they match well together providing excellent sound quality.the amp works well with the nad 521bee cd player,all conected by silver aniversary spks.this amp is for those who like true sounds rather than headbanging distortion.it can also be used as a heater in winter since it gets so hot.its great with electroic/ambient muic since it can cope well with a high density of articulate sounds.to quote...life is sound and sound is sugden

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creek,krell

Fantastically musical, tube-like warmth, great imaging, bass and detail.

A little finicky -easy to blow fuses...lucky it has 3 seperate fuses.

What can I say? Ever since I made the big audio leap in my early twenties and invested in my A21a my life as a music listener has changed. I have owned my amp for 15 years and have loved every minute of it - it is everything it's reputation states: plain, honest, accurate and warm in a musical and literal sense. I have been upgrading everything around this amp for the last few years and it is only getting better. I love the Sugden 'it ain't broke' philosophy - and I look for the same in other manufacturers. They have also been very good to answer any and all of my questions in regards to system matching. I hope I own for many years to come.

Sheer Musicality

No remote Runs really hot No Power in..for use as a plain power amp

I am not going to say much about its incredible soundstaging. its control at low volumes , its tight Bass or its smooth treble. to me this amplifier has meant pure, sheer music. even Old "poorly recorded" cd sound good without any harshness and edgy. Although it says 25 watts, it feels more than that. I have 98dB speakers but still do not need to trun this above 9-o closk ...which is saying something about this little treasure of an amp

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Nad320Bee Myriad Z140 Rotel Ra02 Marantz PM7200

Warmth and musicality Trasparency and detail Vocals Tonal balance Dynamics Sound stage

Nothing of significance but with rock music someone may prefer a more powerful and controlled bass.

The Sugden A21a is a 25 w pure class A hand built integrated amplifier. It’s a very special product as it offers a natural, trasparent, sweet and “tube-like” sound with a good sound staging and dynamics. I use it with a pair of Harbeth HL-P3ES-2 and I think it’s a very good match, especially for a small room. The A21a works well even from low volume settings and this is important especially with low sensibility speakers such as the P3ES-2. The overall sound is natural and unfatiguing, so you can listen to the music instead of “electricity”. The midrange in particular is really good and voices are fabulous. Sugden’s slogan “Rescuing music from technology”, says the rest.... I strongly recommend this product to every music lover, especially the BBC- oriented ones.

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Audio Analogue Puccini SE

Very natural sound and extremely detailed, makes digital sources very 'analogue'. Brilliant for SACD and DVD-A and does the business with Home Cinema.

They do get very hot, as with all class A. Not a real weakness just a fact. Headbangers may think they want more power

This review is for the A21ap, which is the power amp equivalent of the A21a. This amp is pure pleasure. Very natural and unfatiguing to listen to. I use 5 of them in a home cinema system with a class A valve stage 6 channel pre amp. Despite having only 25w of power they are louder and fuller than the 200w Rotel 991s they replaced. When using DVD-A or SACD the amps show real musicality yet can handle the dynamics of Home Cinema (especially voices which sound incredible). I have nothing but praise for this product and the price is very fair for the performance. Current System Marantz Dv8300 Copland CVA 306 5 X Sugden A21ap Bespoke active crossover 5 X Naim SBL REL Stadium

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Naim 250/135 Rotel 991/993

This amp will make you have faith in the possibility of having real music at home for less than 15000 dollars... If you see all the reviews, you will realize everybody rates it 5 stars. That has an explanation: audioreview doesn't allow us to rate it with more stars. I don't think that anybody that has own this amp for a few months will ever rate this amp with less than the 5 stars max rating.

Limited power means you will have to use fairly sensitive loudspeakers, which isn't necessarily a weakness. Build quality is ok, but it looks very bad with the black plastic controls and the shyny metal fascia.

This is probably the easiest piece of equipment to review. It is a simply incredible amplifier, and it comes with a price tag that doesn't do justice to the quality of the sound it produces. They could charge twice the money for this amp, and it would still be amazing value for maney. Vocals and saxos are simply incredible. Soundstage is large. Dynamics are really good. I could go like this forever.... The truth is that, if power is not an issue with your speakers, you will find this amp to be better than many levinsons and krells out there... It may not have the power or the bass drive of the really big boys, but it is one of those gems in the audio industry that really brings music to life in your listening room. Sugden's slogan couldnt describes it better: "freeing music from technology" I am in love with only 2 amplifiers: this sugden and a hybrid handcrafted british amp: a Croft (Im sorry but I don't remember its name now...) The croft was more airy than the Sugden and had better definition on the frequency extremes, but it is also priced more than twice than the Sugden. If you are looking for audio nirvana, in the true high-end level of performance, give the "cheap" sugden a try: it will more than probably surprise you...

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Chord pre+power, Audionet Sam v2, Mark Levinson, Audio Research, Copland, Naim

- precise - fast - honest - soundstage

- gets very hot

a lot of words can be said about this amp but most has been said during the decades it has been on the market. the nice thing about this amp is the fact that you get used to listening to it so easily, which in my opinion proves the true value of a good amp, i.e. you are not listening to the amp as such but to the music it is supposed to reproduce. And this is in which the A21a excels! This amplifier is mindbuggingly precise when it comes to timing, has an almost multidimensional soundstage and all sound really has no attachment anymore to the speakers – full enjoyment floating to the room. Most of all it is so ‘set at rest’ in its reproduction, which enables you to get through the most complicated pieces of music without getting annoyed on the amount of information. It goes very well with my rega Planet (which scared me at first in getting maybe a too ‘ laid back’ combination – a siltech FTM3 G3 did the trick!) and nautilus 805 speakers (on which some more words can be put down…). The 805 is known to relentlessly showing any flawless moment or part in your setup – in the right combination, i.e. a straightforward one, they will nevertheless flourish. And that is what they do as never before. One guy once told me that the most ideal setup in hifi enables the user to use all his music, even the worst recordings, in other words : good setup doesn’t blow with bad recordings since the set. When a bad quality cd survives your listening, the better recordings shouldn’t have any problems subsequently. The sugden is one of the first amplifiers I have listened in which the bad recordings were even improving in quality. Ofcourse it is no comparison to a really good recording (for example the reference label ‘ pictures at an exhibition’ with full orchestra) – still, joy with your full collection is insured! Concluding, if you are in to the ‘ better stuff’ and don’t have money to buy one, sell your stove, since this amplifier even enables you to bake eggs (or anything else you prefer) on top!

Looks Soundstage Warmth Clarity

Can get very hot!

The Sugden A21a amp blew me away. I think it`s such a smashing amp and is a joy to listen to. Once It has warmed up it does everything a good amp should do. It has a very warm and clear sound along with excellent soundstage. Every CD has a new lease of life.

Warmth. Voices and midrange in general is fantastic.

Power (''though more than most A- class below £1000).

Great amp- I was looking for something that took the steely edge off my CD''s. This beat three other amps tested in price range hands down. It lets you listen to strings and trumpets without ear strain, a real "sibilance stopper". My speakers (tweaked Kef Coda 7) don''t do it justice- with a good rig, I''ve heard this amp separate instruments with black, silent space. It is the first amp that encourages prolonged listening... and heats your listening room into the bargain.

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Technics. Naim.